Reformation: A Salvation Society Novel

by Chelle Sloan

  “That you start selling?”

  “I had to say yes. He was standing in the middle of my living room about to kill my mother. What choice did I have? So I became a drug dealer to save my mother’s life from a man who wasn’t worth it. I don’t even know why I agreed. It wasn’t like she cared about me, or herself.”

  A laugh that is laced with frustration, hurt, and anger comes out of me as I say these words out loud.

  “What happened next?” Garrett asks softly.

  “I started selling. I hated every second of it. I was watching kids I had known since I was in kindergarten come to school high, or not come at all. I watched girls I used to envy for their beauty start withering away. One of my classmates overdosed. I hated it. I hated myself. Most of all, I hated Ralph. He was the one behind this. So I did what I should have done a long time before, I went to the cops.”

  “You did? Paige, that’s amazing.”

  I swallow back my emotions. I didn’t realize what saying all of this out loud would do to me. “It was the hardest thing I have ever done. The local officers had to call in the drug task force in Birmingham. They knew Ralph wasn’t a big-time dealer, but they thought if I could get enough on him, or maybe find out where he was getting his supply from, it could lead to something bigger. I sold for another two months, wore a wire, and got as much information on him as I could. It was enough to get an arrest warrant for Ralph, but I could never figure out who the top guy was.”

  “Was your mom arrested too?”

  I shake my head. “They raided our house after the arrest, but she had already shot up anything that was inside, and she was unconscious when they arrived. She went to the hospital, but no charges were filed. Ralph never kept the drugs he planned to sell at our house. He always just got what he could distribute from his guy, so he never had any extras laying around, which always pissed my mom off when she needed a fix.”

  “At least your mom got treated when she went to the hospital.”

  I let out a laugh that is laced with years’ worth of frustration. “Those five days she was in the hospital are the longest she has been clean in twenty years. Do you want to know the best part? What she said to me when I picked her up from the hospital? She told me to drop her off and to leave. To never come back. That she knew it was me who ratted Ralph out and that I ruined her life when I turned him in and that I no longer had a home. My own mother kicked me out because I turned in her drug-dealing boyfriend who tried to kill her. How messed up is that?”

  “I’m sorry… she did what? You can’t be serious.”

  I sit back down. “As a heart attack. I told her that if she kicked me out, then that was that. She couldn’t call me or look for me. That I was going to be gone for good. She told me that she was finally glad to be rid of, in her words, her ‘ungrateful bitch of a daughter.’”

  “Paige, I’m so sorry.”

  I shake my head. “Don’t be. That was the best thing she did for me. It was only a few weeks from graduation. I had been stealing money from Ralph, so I had been saving for a while. I found a cheap hotel where the manager let me clean in exchange for a room. I finished the tests I needed to take to graduate, and the day that I could leave, I left for Virginia and I never looked back.”

  “You haven’t talked to your mom since?”

  “No. Well, yes. Kind of. I changed my number and never made contact after I left Alabama. A few months back, I started getting calls from unknown numbers, but I ignored them. One day after school, I answered on accident. It was her. I freaked out and hung up right away. I hadn’t heard from her again until today. Now… Garrett now I think she’s in Virginia.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  I sit up, away from Garrett’s hold, because this is the part I need him to hear. “That last call. She told me. She said that I must have had a late night with my doctor. She knows about me. About you. Garrett, I have no idea what she wants. Or what shape she is in. I’m sure there’s a new boyfriend. Ralph was sentenced to fifteen years because of the kid who overdosed. But Garrett, she’s not right. She’s unstable. I don’t want… If something happens to you or your family. Or my students… I’m scared, Garrett.”

  And just like that, I’m back in his arms. “Shh, Angel. I’ve got you. What happened to you, no one should ever have to go through that. Nothing is going to happen. I won’t let it.”

  And somehow, I know he won’t.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Garrett

  “Mark!” I shout my brother’s name as I come barreling through his door. “Mark! Where the fuck are you? Get your ass down here now!”

  “What the hell, man?” he says, coming down the stairs, Charlie right behind him. “We just got the kids to bed. You’re going to wake them up.”

  “I don’t care. I need you. Paige needs you.”

  “Garrett, sit down,” Charlie says. “You need to settle down. What’s the matter?”

  After Paige told me everything—and wow, I wasn’t expecting any of that—I didn’t want to leave her side. And I didn’t for the rest of the day.

  She told me a little more about her childhood, and every time she brought up her bitch of a mother, it took everything I had in me not to punch a hole through the wall. How do you call yourself a mother and treat your child that way?

  Then she told me about how she came to Virginia. How she was determined to let the past go and start something fresh. During her first week on campus, she saw a flyer about volunteering at a drug counseling center.

  She started the next day.

  So many people would have been crushed by what Paige went through. I know I would have. Not my girl. Not only did she overcome, she has also helped others along the way.

  But who has helped her? No one. Which is why I have to do everything I can to make sure that she is safe.

  Which is why I’m now talking to my brother—who just so happens to own a security firm.

  I tell him and Charlie everything I know. Well, not everything. They don’t need to know that I’m never spending the night here again now that I know what it’s like to be inside Paige.

  “Wow,” Mark says, rubbing his jaw. “What does she think her mom wants?”

  “No clue. She hasn’t talked to her since she left Alabama. How could she get her number?”

  “It’s not hard if someone really wants it,” Charlie says. “Heck, she could have called the school, said that she was her mother, and they probably assumed it was OK to give it to her. If you’re persistent enough, people will give you what you want. We can have all the security measures we want, but if people want it bad enough, they will find a way.”

  “What did you just say?” I ask, something about her words striking a chord.

  “They will find a way?”

  “Son of a bitch!” I yell, shooting up from the chair. “The clinic. Mark, you remember? Someone tried to break into the clinic on the day of the carnival. What if… Could it have been her mom?”

  “It’s possible,” Mark said. “Get me the security footage and I’ll have my guys look through it. Do you want me to put someone on Paige?”

  I nod. “Yes. But I know she’ll hate it.”

  “No one likes it. I’ll make sure my guy is discreet. She will barely even know he’s there.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it. I just want to make sure Paige is safe.”

  “Is Miss Blackstone OK?” I didn’t even hear Cullen coming down the stairs, still in his Transformers pajamas. Shit, I hope he didn’t hear too much.

  “No, buddy,” I say, lifting him to sit next to me on the couch. “It’s just… Miss Blackstone and I have become very close. And just how I want you and your sister safe, I want her safe too.”

  “Is she your girlfriend?”

  My nephew is way too perceptive.

  “Would that be OK if she is?”

  He stops and thinks about it for a second. “Does that mean she’d be around after she’s done being my teacher?”


  I laugh. “As long as she doesn’t break up with me.”

  He sits up a little straighter, trying to look much older than his six years. “Well, then we better make sure she doesn’t do that.”

  We all laugh at Cullen, who doesn’t realize why we are so amused at him. Or why we are grateful that he broke the tension in the room.

  “I’m serious,” he continues. “We need to do something nice for her. Have you done anything nice for her, Uncle Garrett? Because good boyfriends do that.”

  “What would you know about being a good boyfriend?”

  “Because I am one. Penelope tells me all the time.”

  I laugh. Charlie rolls her eyes. Mark has never looked more proud.

  “OK, Captain Boyfriend, what do you suggest that I do to make sure she doesn’t break up with me?”

  A devilish grin forms on his face. “You need to listen to everything I have to say.”

  What have I got myself into?

  Paige

  Something is not right.

  Cullen is being… good.

  I noticed it first thing this morning when he came right into the room. He didn’t stop to talk to any of his classmates, hung up his jacket and book bag, and sat down like a perfect little gentleman.

  Cullen Dixon is a lot of things, but a perfect gentleman he is not.

  This has now lasted the whole day. He hasn’t said a bad word once. In fact, he’s barely said anything. He’s raised his hand every time to speak. He hasn’t whispered anything to Penelope. He even offered to pass out the afternoon activity packets.

  Something is up. And I have no clue what it is.

  Monday is always a hard day for the kids, so I always end the day with reading time. If a student is especially good that day, I let them pick the book.

  Is this what he wanted?

  “Cullen, what would you like to read today?”

  He smiles from ear to ear. “I brought in a book for you to read!” He rushes to his book bag and pulls it out. “Here! Read this!”

  Cullen hands me the book. “Beauty and the Beast?” I ask.

  “Yes! It’s my favorite.”

  Glad that it’s the Disney version of this tragic story, instead of the real one, I begin. I tell the class of the girl who loved to read, and the town who didn’t understand her. How when she went looking for her father who was lost, that she met a beast. How that beast was scary and mean at first, but how over time she learned that underneath his exterior, there was a good person there. How they, even after all hope looked grim, lived happily ever after.

  “Thank you, Cullen, for picking this book.”

  “Thank you, Miss Blackstone, for being the best teacher ever,” he says as he hands me a single red rose, just like from the story. Where and when he got this I have no clue. His gesture, of course, sends the class into a tizzy as I dismiss them to gather their book bags and line up for dismissal.

  “Cullen, thank you. It’s lovely. Where did you get this?”

  He smiles. “There’s more where that came from.”

  And out of the corner of my eye, I see what he means. Because there is Garrett, standing at my door, holding what looks like a dozen roses. Though, I bet if I counted, there would be one missing.

  I want to rush over to him. To jump in his arms and say thank you. To ask what he had to bribe Cullen with to pull this off.

  “Miss Blackstone, who is that?” Michaela asks.

  “Hey! That’s the guy who is going to take us to the baseball game!” Nicky says.

  I laugh and so does Garrett. “Yes, class. Let’s say hi to Cullen’s uncle, Dr. Dixon.”

  A chorus of “Hi, Dr. Dixon” is drowned out by the bell as the kids hurry and exit my room.

  I have never been so happy to not be on carpool duty.

  “Did you really employ your nephew to do something sweet for you?”

  He smiles walking toward me. “In my defense, it was his idea. He said I had to do something nice so you would never break up with me.”

  I lean up and kiss him on the lips. Nothing inappropriate, but it’s filled with promises for later.

  “Does this mean he knows about us?”

  He nods. “I told him yesterday. Is that OK?”

  “Depends. How did he react?”

  “He’s very excited that you’ll be around past his time in your class. And he told me that I, and I quote, ‘better not mess this up for us.’”

  I laugh. That kid is something else.

  I take the roses from Garrett and bring them to my nose. I know it’s cliché, but I love roses.

  “Thank you,” I say. “I know why you did this. And you didn’t have to.”

  “I kind of did. I was informed that I was a bad boyfriend and I needed to step my game up.”

  I laugh. “Did Mark or Charlie tell you that?”

  “Neither. It was Cullen.”

  This makes me laugh harder. “Is that the only reason? Because you wanted to prove yourself to a six-year-old?”

  Garrett reaches for my hand, which I give him, and he pulls me into his body, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I did this because I wanted to. Because I think about you every second of the day. And because, Paige, you deserve to know every day how special you are.”

  I lean up and kiss him one more time, because how can I not after he says things like that?

  I break the kiss a little too early for his liking. “Are you free for the rest of the day?”

  He nods. “I don’t have any patients. What do you have in mind?”

  I pull on his hand, leading him out the door. “I think you need to be rewarded for being a good boyfriend.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Paige

  It’s official. I am completely, one hundred percent, head over heels in love with Garrett Dixon.

  Have I told him this? Absolutely not. We’ve only been officially dating for a month. I might not have ever had a real boyfriend, but I do know that one month is way too soon to tell someone that you love them.

  Maybe I’m ahead of the game because we spent so long getting to know each other. In those months, I feel like I learned who Garrett was in every way. Well, not every way.

  Those other ways I’ve found out more recently. And those ways are really, really great.

  Like insanely so, can’t get enough of them, eyes roll back in my head, great.

  It’s not just his bedroom skills that have me wanting to scream from the rooftops that I love him. No. It’s because today is the day that everyone can now see the man I knew Garrett could be all along. Not the cocky doctor or the man who dines with the rich and powerful.

  Today, Garrett is showing his heart and his humanity to his family, his coworkers. And I couldn’t be more proud.

  A few months ago, he was treating a football player at the clinic who broke his leg during spring conditioning. He told Garrett about how many in his school struggle financially, or didn’t have health insurance, and that for a lot of his friends, scholarships, especially sports, were their only chances of going to college. Unfortunately, most couldn’t afford the basic physicals that the state required to be able to play high school sports.

  Garrett decided to change that. He talked to the schools in the county and learned that if the kids received physicals in the spring, that they would be valid for the entire next academic year, including the fall, winter, and spring sports seasons. So today, he opened his clinic to every school-age child in the county for free physicals.

  And I couldn’t be prouder of him.

  When he told me the idea, I screamed so loud I think I woke my neighbors. I couldn’t wait to get started to help him organize it. I called Rebecca, his office manager, the next day to start coordinating. I worked with the high school student council in my district who agreed to volunteer. And of course, Mark, Charlie, Boomer, and Kelly are here as well.

  “I can’t believe how many kids are here,” Charlie says, her check-in line finally dying down. “Who knew ther
e were that many kids around here who needed this?”

  I nod, checking the last person in for my line. “Really puts it into perspective, doesn’t it?”

  “I saw him earlier. He looked so in his element. I still can’t believe he did this.”

  I can. Maybe it was because I never really knew the person everyone said he was, but the Garrett I know wouldn’t hesitate twice to be able to use his resources to help people in need.

  “I can’t believe that Trevor agreed to help,” Kelly chimes in. “Seriously, though. What did you have to pay him to do this?”

  “Surprisingly nothing. He heard Rebecca and I talking about it and asked if we needed another doctor to keep the line moving. I told him to run it past Garrett.”

  I’m of the belief that this is Trevor’s way of apologizing. I also have it on good authority, aka Rebecca, that he and Annika are already over. Apparently, after the run-in we had at the Robinsons, Trevor’s sex goggles became clearer. Rebecca told me that the last time she saw her, Annika had come barreling in the office wondering why he didn’t leave her money to go shopping.

  Good riddance, if you ask me.

  “Well, whatever happened, I’m glad he’s here. We would be here until well past midnight without him.”

  Luckily, it was a beautiful day, so we could hold registration outside before patients went in to see either Garrett or Trevor. And right now, the line is out the door.

  I try and count how many are still in line, and when I make it to the end, I have to do a double take. Standing next to the building, bringing a cigarette to her mouth, is a person I haven’t seen in more than a decade.

  Mama.

  “Can you both watch the table for me? I have to go check on something.”

  Without waiting for their answer, I make my way over to the woman I had hoped I would never see again, my anger rising with every step I take toward her.